I have a big heavy old pillar drill and it is sooo inconvenient for
woodwork I am thinking of taking it to the scrap yard.

Where would I find a sensible benchtop machine for drilling? with a
fence and end stops and support for longer and wider pieces, a better
reach into the middle of a board, one where the drilling head was moved
up and down and not the workpiece. Does it exist? or do I have to make
it myself?

TW

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On 11/9/2021 4:00 AM, TimW wrote:

I have a big heavy old pillar drill and it is sooo inconvenient for
woodwork I am thinking of taking it to the scrap yard.

Where would I find a sensible benchtop machine for drilling? with a
fence and end stops and support for longer and wider pieces, a better
reach into the middle of a board, one where the drilling head was moved
up and down and not the workpiece. Does it exist? or do I have to make
it myself?

I don't know of a drill press with those specs. I'd start with
something like a Grizzly G7945 or Shop Fox W1669 and add my own make-it-yourself extended table, fence and end stops. That's what
I did (my support table is 16"x27" melamine coated MDF with miter
t-track inserts to hold the fence) and it works pretty well for me.

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On Tue, 9 Nov 2021 11:00:33 +0000, TimW <[email protected]> wrote:

I have a big heavy old pillar drill and it is sooo inconvenient for
woodwork I am thinking of taking it to the scrap yard.

Where would I find a sensible benchtop machine for drilling? with a
fence and end stops and support for longer and wider pieces, a better
reach into the middle of a board, one where the drilling head was moved
up and down and not the workpiece. Does it exist? or do I have to make
it myself?

If you want a big table (and the price tag just as large):

<https://www.woodpeck.com/dp-pro-drill-press-table.html>

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On Tuesday, November 9, 2021 at 3:00:38 AM UTC-8, TimW wrote:

I have a big heavy old pillar drill and it is sooo inconvenient for
woodwork I am thinking of taking it to the scrap yard.

Where would I find a sensible benchtop machine for drilling? with a
fence and end stops and support for longer and wider pieces, a better
reach into the middle of a board, one where the drilling head was moved
up and down and not the workpiece.

You need to limit those goals. 'support' for long and wide pieces won't
be possible on a benchtop unless the work is on the bench, in which case a Portalign jig with hand drill is more useful than a drill press.

Not sure what 'better reach' requires, but radial drill presses are pricey
and that reach never did me much good when I had one... Grizzly
offers one

<https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-34-benchtop-radial-drill-press/g7945>

Clones of the old Delta bench drill press models
abound, have circa 6" throat which will get you to the middle of a 12" board... General plan is motor /belts-and-pulleys/ nontilting head, with tilting table clamped to a round column.

For preference, I'd want a 1/2" chuck and replaceable motor, and
change-a-belt speeds (old school, but when something breaks, it's not
a total-drillpress-replace).

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On Tuesday, November 9, 2021 at 6:00:38 AM UTC-5, TimW wrote:

I have a big heavy old pillar drill and it is sooo inconvenient for
woodwork I am thinking of taking it to the scrap yard.

Where would I find a sensible benchtop machine for drilling? with a
fence and end stops and support for longer and wider pieces, a better
reach into the middle of a board, one where the drilling head was moved
up and down and not the workpiece. Does it exist? or do I have to make
it myself?

TW

This device seems to fulfill your requirements:

- a fence and end stops and support for longer and wider pieces
- a better reach into the middle of a board
- the drilling head is moved up and down and not the workpiece

You just need to supply the "drill head", although you'd be limited to
5/8", 1/2" and 5mm as your initial hole sizes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZirTF0MQpI&t=73s

https://www.woodpeck.com/ott-ultimate-doweling-jig2-0-2021.html

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On Wednesday, November 10, 2021 at 11:48:34 AM UTC-5, DerbyDad03 wrote:

On Tuesday, November 9, 2021 at 6:00:38 AM UTC-5, TimW wrote:

I have a big heavy old pillar drill and it is sooo inconvenient for woodwork I am thinking of taking it to the scrap yard.

Where would I find a sensible benchtop machine for drilling? with a
fence and end stops and support for longer and wider pieces, a better
reach into the middle of a board, one where the drilling head was moved
up and down and not the workpiece. Does it exist? or do I have to make
it myself?

TW

This device seems to fulfill your requirements:

- a fence and end stops and support for longer and wider pieces
- a better reach into the middle of a board
- the drilling head is moved up and down and not the workpiece

You just need to supply the "drill head", although you'd be limited to
5/8", 1/2" and 5mm as your initial hole sizes.

Typo...make that 5/16", not 5/8"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZirTF0MQpI&t=73s

https://www.woodpeck.com/ott-ultimate-doweling-jig2-0-2021.html

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